Indiana University Athletics
Speed Thrills -- Myles Rice Set to Push Hoosier Pace
10/16/2024 10:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Myles Rice has uncommon speed. Let's start with that.
Yes, there is more to Indiana's new sophomore guard than how fast he plays with the ball, and we'll get to that, but that's the skill-set separator, that's what makes Rice unique to recent Hoosier guards, certainly unique in coach Mike Woodson's four-year IU head-coaching run.
"It's one of my best attributes," says Rice, a heralded Washington State transfer. "Another is my basketball IQ, my ability to play defense, and my ability to lead. I don't hang my hat on just one thing.
"But definitely, I think my speed with the ball in my hands is a blessing to be able to do that."
Woodson wants to play fast, wants to push the ball before opponents can set up their defenses, and the 6-3, 185-pound Rice is positioned to set the tone as no previous guard under Woodson could.
"It's his speed," Woodson says. "It changes the game for us, along with the fact that he can score."
The first public glimpse will come during Friday night's Hoosier Hysteria Presented by Smithville at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and if full-throttle pace emerges during the planned scrimmage, just wait -- you ain't seen nothing yet.
"It all starts with everybody getting in shape," Rice says. "That way, we're able to play fast. That will be one of the keys for us -- playing fast and getting in transition for easy buckets."
Rice talks and plays beyond his sophomore designation, which isn't a surprise -- he's steeled by more than just one season of major college basketball, although it was a heck of a year in which he earned freshman All-America and All-Pac 12 accolades after averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. He set Washington State freshman records for points in a game (35) and a season (519), steals in a season (56), and assists in a season (131), plus shot 81.1% from the line, all while leading the Cougars to the NCAA tourney for the first time in 16 years.
But beyond that, he's a 21-year-old cancer survivor who spent his first two seasons at Washington State redshirting, the first for athletic reasons, the second for medical ones while battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma. His last chemotherapy treatment came in March of 2023.
"Being a little older, I only played one season, but I have a lot of experience and basketball IQ," he says. "I know basketball and have played in tough situations. That helps."
Teammate Luke Goode has seen Rice's skills in action during practice, and during last spring's NCAA Tournament preparation while Goode was with Illinois. The teams would have played if both had advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Illinois did. Washington State lost to Iowa State in the second round.
"Since the day Myles got here, I knew he was going to be a special player," Goode says. "I scouted him in the tournament, so I was very familiar with his game. It's exactly what you saw last year, only now at a higher level."
Once a relatively under-the-radar high school recruit out of Georgia -- he was a top 50 senior point guard nationally and a top 15 college in-state prospect -- Rice has emerged as an elite player, with plenty of point-guard growth still needed. That includes improving his 3-point shooting -- he shot 27.5% beyond the arc last season.
"His biggest challenge is just being a solid point guard and making sure he understands there are other players around him that can also help, too," Woodson says. "That's a learning process for a lot of point guards when you're that young. You've got to include everybody and figure out how to make everybody happy when you have the ball in your hands.
"It's just not him. It's everybody who has the ball because we have a number of guys that can make plays."
Rice had plenty of options once he entered the transfer portal last spring. What made Indiana stand out, he says, was "authenticity" from coaches and players.
"That's the main thing I was looking for; that's the main thing I look for in people and relationships. I saw it with Woody, the other coaches, and the players. They were all authentic from Day 1.
"I thought to myself, if that's how it was in just one day, I can only imagine the more time we spend together and bond, the more we can build and move forward together."
Hoosier expectations are high given Woodson says this is the most talented IU team he has coached. He's made it clear the focus is on winning championships. The Hoosiers were picked No. 17 in the Associated Press preseason poll. Only two-time defending Big Ten champ Purdue, at No. 14, was ranked higher among conference teams.
"We have a lot of expectations people from the outside" Rice says, "but just being able to fulfill the things we want to get done is what's most important.
"Obviously, we're not going to act like we don't hear what people are saying, but we don't pay attention to it. We bought into each other and what Coach wants to do and what we want to do together. Meeting those expectations we have in-house is the ultimate goal for us."
Rice likes the Hoosiers' Big Ten title chances even with the addition of USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon from the Pac-12.
"We have a bunch of guys who will compete every night. We have new teams in the conference, and everybody reloaded a little bit, but anything we want to get, we can get it. It won't be easy. I expect us to play hard every game, night in and night out. You won't get anything easy over here."
Rice, well versed in the Pac-12 style from his one season at Washington State, says the new teams will bring a faster-paced approach to the Big Ten.
"They each bring something new to the conference with the versatility in how each plays," he says.
Woodson has depth at all positions, especially at guard, than he's never had before. Rice joins standout Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle, plus returning veterans Trey Galloway, Gabe Cupps, Anthony Leal, and Jakai Newton in the backcourt, along with frontcourt players Goode, Oumar Ballo (a highly touted 7-foot transfer from Arizona), Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, Bryson Tucker (a 5-star freshman), Langdon Hatton (a 6-10 Bellarmine transfer), and more.
Woodson wants to mix small ball with power ball and is not averse to playing 10 or more players. Some of that might be displayed Friday night.
"I wish I could play 12 guys," he says, "but that's not the nature of this business in college basketball or NBA basketball. It's tough playing 12 guys. I got away with it in New York (while coaching the Knicks) when I played 10 guys because we were deep. We are deep this year, so only time will tell.
"If I can play 10 guys, I'll play them and give everybody a shot. But they've got to produce. You don't just give minutes to them. It's so competitive in practice. Everybody is fighting to play, and I get it. That's how it should be."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Myles Rice has uncommon speed. Let's start with that.
Yes, there is more to Indiana's new sophomore guard than how fast he plays with the ball, and we'll get to that, but that's the skill-set separator, that's what makes Rice unique to recent Hoosier guards, certainly unique in coach Mike Woodson's four-year IU head-coaching run.
"It's one of my best attributes," says Rice, a heralded Washington State transfer. "Another is my basketball IQ, my ability to play defense, and my ability to lead. I don't hang my hat on just one thing.
"But definitely, I think my speed with the ball in my hands is a blessing to be able to do that."
Woodson wants to play fast, wants to push the ball before opponents can set up their defenses, and the 6-3, 185-pound Rice is positioned to set the tone as no previous guard under Woodson could.
"It's his speed," Woodson says. "It changes the game for us, along with the fact that he can score."
The first public glimpse will come during Friday night's Hoosier Hysteria Presented by Smithville at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and if full-throttle pace emerges during the planned scrimmage, just wait -- you ain't seen nothing yet.
"It all starts with everybody getting in shape," Rice says. "That way, we're able to play fast. That will be one of the keys for us -- playing fast and getting in transition for easy buckets."
Rice talks and plays beyond his sophomore designation, which isn't a surprise -- he's steeled by more than just one season of major college basketball, although it was a heck of a year in which he earned freshman All-America and All-Pac 12 accolades after averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. He set Washington State freshman records for points in a game (35) and a season (519), steals in a season (56), and assists in a season (131), plus shot 81.1% from the line, all while leading the Cougars to the NCAA tourney for the first time in 16 years.
But beyond that, he's a 21-year-old cancer survivor who spent his first two seasons at Washington State redshirting, the first for athletic reasons, the second for medical ones while battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma. His last chemotherapy treatment came in March of 2023.
"Being a little older, I only played one season, but I have a lot of experience and basketball IQ," he says. "I know basketball and have played in tough situations. That helps."
Teammate Luke Goode has seen Rice's skills in action during practice, and during last spring's NCAA Tournament preparation while Goode was with Illinois. The teams would have played if both had advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Illinois did. Washington State lost to Iowa State in the second round.
"Since the day Myles got here, I knew he was going to be a special player," Goode says. "I scouted him in the tournament, so I was very familiar with his game. It's exactly what you saw last year, only now at a higher level."
Once a relatively under-the-radar high school recruit out of Georgia -- he was a top 50 senior point guard nationally and a top 15 college in-state prospect -- Rice has emerged as an elite player, with plenty of point-guard growth still needed. That includes improving his 3-point shooting -- he shot 27.5% beyond the arc last season.
"His biggest challenge is just being a solid point guard and making sure he understands there are other players around him that can also help, too," Woodson says. "That's a learning process for a lot of point guards when you're that young. You've got to include everybody and figure out how to make everybody happy when you have the ball in your hands.
"It's just not him. It's everybody who has the ball because we have a number of guys that can make plays."
Rice had plenty of options once he entered the transfer portal last spring. What made Indiana stand out, he says, was "authenticity" from coaches and players.
"That's the main thing I was looking for; that's the main thing I look for in people and relationships. I saw it with Woody, the other coaches, and the players. They were all authentic from Day 1.
"I thought to myself, if that's how it was in just one day, I can only imagine the more time we spend together and bond, the more we can build and move forward together."
Hoosier expectations are high given Woodson says this is the most talented IU team he has coached. He's made it clear the focus is on winning championships. The Hoosiers were picked No. 17 in the Associated Press preseason poll. Only two-time defending Big Ten champ Purdue, at No. 14, was ranked higher among conference teams.
"We have a lot of expectations people from the outside" Rice says, "but just being able to fulfill the things we want to get done is what's most important.
"Obviously, we're not going to act like we don't hear what people are saying, but we don't pay attention to it. We bought into each other and what Coach wants to do and what we want to do together. Meeting those expectations we have in-house is the ultimate goal for us."
Rice likes the Hoosiers' Big Ten title chances even with the addition of USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon from the Pac-12.
"We have a bunch of guys who will compete every night. We have new teams in the conference, and everybody reloaded a little bit, but anything we want to get, we can get it. It won't be easy. I expect us to play hard every game, night in and night out. You won't get anything easy over here."
Rice, well versed in the Pac-12 style from his one season at Washington State, says the new teams will bring a faster-paced approach to the Big Ten.
"They each bring something new to the conference with the versatility in how each plays," he says.
Woodson has depth at all positions, especially at guard, than he's never had before. Rice joins standout Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle, plus returning veterans Trey Galloway, Gabe Cupps, Anthony Leal, and Jakai Newton in the backcourt, along with frontcourt players Goode, Oumar Ballo (a highly touted 7-foot transfer from Arizona), Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, Bryson Tucker (a 5-star freshman), Langdon Hatton (a 6-10 Bellarmine transfer), and more.
Woodson wants to mix small ball with power ball and is not averse to playing 10 or more players. Some of that might be displayed Friday night.
"I wish I could play 12 guys," he says, "but that's not the nature of this business in college basketball or NBA basketball. It's tough playing 12 guys. I got away with it in New York (while coaching the Knicks) when I played 10 guys because we were deep. We are deep this year, so only time will tell.
"If I can play 10 guys, I'll play them and give everybody a shot. But they've got to produce. You don't just give minutes to them. It's so competitive in practice. Everybody is fighting to play, and I get it. That's how it should be."
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